Goldsmith Theodore C
Azinet LLC, 553 Osprey Point Road, Crownsville, MD 21032, USA.
J Theor Biol. 2008 Jun 21;252(4):764-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2008.02.035. Epub 2008 Mar 3.
There is a class of theories of aging (variously termed adaptive aging, aging by design, aging selected for its own sake, or programmed death theories) that hold that an organism design that limits life span conveys benefits and was selected specifically because it limits life span. These theories have enjoyed a resurgence of popularity because of the discovery of genes that promote aging in various organisms. However, traditional evolution theory has a core tenet that excludes the possibility of evolving and retaining an individually adverse organism design, i.e. a design characteristic that reduces the ability of individual organisms to survive or reproduce without any compensating individual benefit. Various theories of aging dating from the 1950s and based on traditional evolution theory enjoy substantial popularity. Therefore, any theorist proposing an adaptive theory of aging must necessarily also propose some adjustment to traditional evolution theory that specifically addresses the individual benefit issue. This paper describes an adaptive theory of aging and describes how one of the proposed adjustments (evolvability theory) supports adaptive aging. This issue is important because adaptive theories are generally more optimistic regarding prospects for medical intervention in the aging process and also suggest different approaches in achieving such intervention.
有一类衰老理论（有多种称呼，如适应性衰老、设计性衰老、因自身缘故而选择的衰老或程序性死亡理论）认为，一种限制寿命的生物体设计会带来益处，并且正是因为它限制了寿命才被特意选择。由于在各种生物体中发现了促进衰老的基因，这些理论再度受到欢迎。然而，传统进化理论有一个核心原则，即排除了进化并保留对个体不利的生物体设计的可能性，也就是说，一种设计特征如果会降低个体生物体在没有任何补偿性个体益处的情况下生存或繁殖的能力。自20世纪50年代以来基于传统进化理论的各种衰老理论广受欢迎。因此，任何提出适应性衰老理论的理论家都必须同时提出对传统进化理论的某种调整，专门解决个体益处问题。本文描述了一种适应性衰老理论，并阐述了所提出的调整之一（可进化性理论）如何支持适应性衰老。这个问题很重要，因为适应性理论通常对衰老过程中医疗干预的前景更为乐观，并且还提出了实现这种干预的不同方法。
